Elsa Mendoza, mother of Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (Getty Images)
As the mother of Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the 2026 No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick and a Heisman Trophy winner, she knows the cameras find her in the stands.
“With air travel, I really do get dried out,” she told PEOPLE. “I’ve tried many, many, many skincare brands, and I really find that this is what has really hydrated my skin,” she said. “Things do get a little difficult for me nowadays,” she said. “It makes me feel prettier,” she said. “I know I’m in the public eye, and I want to make the boys proud,” she said.
Elsa Mendoza has spent years in football stadiums, on airplanes, and increasingly, on television screens across America. And she has made peace with that. More than peace, actually. She has built a whole routine around it. “And I am traveling probably once a week to go see the boys play, whether it be Alberto at Georgia Tech or Fernando in Vegas. She is not a brand ambassador who stumbled into a skincare deal. She is a mother who needed something that actually works on long flights and unpredictable game-day weather. Miami sun, stadium wind, recycled airplane air. Her skin has seen all of it. “And it’s really helped with fine lines and things like that. “Sometimes I can’t wave, sometimes I can’t do things, but the face is what everybody sees. Your expression, your happiness, your disappointment. “It makes me feel like I’m taking care of myself, and something I’m doing to keep myself young. “I want to look good on TV and make the boys be like, ‘That’s my mom. I feel like this is something I can do.”